BA/MA Journalism Student Output

PSG v Celtic Preview

CELTIC face Paris St Germain at the Parc des Princes tonight in an attempt to deliver an upset in Paris to make up for the humiliation the bhoys suffered at home earlier in the campaign.

A good result will boost the Glasgow’s side chances of dropping into the Europa League as they cannot progress in the Champions League competition with PSG looking to top the group. Brendan Rodgers’ side are currently third in Group B.

In an interview, Celtic fan and podcast host Gerry from the Celtic Dreams show remained optimistic for tonight but fears another heavy defeat.

“I think the last game showed the difference in class between the two teams… I think it’ll be difficult for Celtic not to lose another five or six.”

An honest answer, but after the last result its easy to understand why. There is hope for the Celtic faithful as it is reported that PSG will be resting a few players for their league clash with Monaco on Saturday.

Gerry believes that Celtic can use it to their advantage. “They may not be feeling match fit, they haven’t played for a while and I think Celtic should go at them right from the beginning, close them down and don’t allow them any opportunities on the ball. And that’s when players who haven’t been playing regularly tend to make mistakes.”

He also stressed the importance of keeping Neymar quiet, a player who has scored five times in the Champions League against Celtic.

“You need someone that’s strong to close him down and not allow him the opportunity to attack.”

He does believe that if provoked, Neymar loses form.

“Neymar is young, he’s a bit unprofessional and you need someone like Scott Brown who can wind him up. If you wind Neymar up, he tends to go off his game. You can’t match him skill wise but you can match him aggression wise. A yellow card with him early on could mean a red card later on in the game.”

However, Gerry believes that under Brendan Rodgers his team are full of confidence and aren’t afraid to step up to the mark when it matters.

“When we played Aberdeen after a Champions League game, we blew them out the water. Aberdeen didn’t know what to do and if we were to play that type of football then anything could happen. We could sneak a goal and find ourselves in a winning position.”

He believes that Celtic need to be more clinical, referring back to Armstrong’s miss against Bayern Munich last month.

When asked about the possibility of Europa League he was quietly confident.

“I’m quite confident that we can get third place, as long as we don’t get beat 4-0. We play Anderlecht at home and the atmosphere is intimidating, you hear many players praise the atmosphere so it clearly plays a factor. I just can’t see them getting a result against us at home.

“We’re punching above our weight in the champions league but the Europa League is another story, I quite fancy us to get to the quarter or semi finals.”

Of course it’s a week of big games for the Celts, after the PSG game tonight they face Motherwell in the League Cup Final on the Sunday. A match that Gerry believes is the bigger game.

“I think it’s a bigger game, there’s silverware on the line and at this moment that’s a priority. I also think it will be a harder game for the simple reason of the way Motherwell are playing.”

Although tonight is a massive game for the club, Gerry has his eye on the upcoming fixtures, hoping for a miracle tonight but quietly confident that his side can finish third and reach the Europa League.

But its very much of taking one game at a time for the hoops as they play four matches in ten days.

The last meeting between the side saw PSG triumph at Celtic Park in a 5-0 humiliating loss for the Scottish champions, this time round they will be seeking to further deepen the wound. However, a good result for the boys in green would solidify a place in the Europa League.